Regarding the architectural design, I referenced traditional Chinese architecture and cyber style, the game referenced was HONKAI Star  Rail, a game where traditional architecture and sci-fi are combined to create an otherworldly sci-fi city of Chinese culture. The architecture of this city needs to look technological while full of Chinese elements during the daytime, and Cyber neon lights at night. So a sensible combination of ancient architecture and new style of lighting and futuristic design was very important.

Chang He, the name of the allusion, alludes to “Huainanzi topographical training”, “Chu rhetoric – Li Sao”. Originally refers to the legendary western gate of heaven, and later has many meanings. Generally refers to the gate of the palace or the gate of Chang-an, borrowing to refer to the capital, palace, court, etc.. Also refers to the west wind.

The inspiration for the building is the gates of some ancient palaces, usually there are several gates in a city, and each gate has its own function, some are responsible for food transfer, some are limited to the population, and some are normally closed and only opened when the emperor or ministers come and go. In the design, the Chang-He gate is limited to population access, so his gate is not as big as the other gates that cars can enter, and because it is limited to population, it comes with a car park and an office building for administration.
The look of this gate is more of an architectural gate than a city gate, as architectural gates have more detail more suited to aesthetically pleasing scenes. I chose a colour scheme for the four buildings and ended up with the darker one as this suits the night scene, even during the day the darker buildings would be very imposing.

This is because Chang-He means in the West, which in traditional Chinese culture belongs to the Green Dragon. So the symbol above his door plate not only has the shadow of the original symbol, but also incorporates a bit of the abstract image of the dragon. Ancient Chinese architecture is extremely complex, so strict that each identity has its own unique representation of the building specifications, yet in the design generally everyone adjusts to make the overall look fit the worldview context of the design.

I simplified many of the structures in my design, both for ease of modelling and to unify the style. Since there are few patterns on the character’s body, the architecture also opted for a large colour block design, rather than the traditional design which favours gaudy coloured varnish. The blue lights are the same as the protective lights on the characters, representing the energy surging inside that is exorcising evil spirits.